We Love Our Moms!

A BIG "thank you" goes out to Mrs. Brewer for helping our children create such a beautiful and meaningful art project today! All the moms will treasure these prints and being able to look back 10, 15, 20 years down the road and remember all the FUN of being the mother of a pre-schooler and none of the exhaustion! 

Besides taking the time with each child to create these precious hand print plaques, Mrs. Brewer also read books about (what else?) moms! Imagine cuddling up with your little one this Sunday and reading: "Is Your Mama a Llama?" by Deborah Guarino, "Meredith's Mother Takes the Train" by Deborah Lee Rose, and "A Mother for Choco" by Keiko Kasza.

Today was also the final story time of the season, and we celebrated with good company and sugar! Having story time every Tuesday has been wonderful both for moms to mingle and for kids to learn, play, create, and make new friends. It has also been wonderful for me as a student of library science, and I have really enjoyed creating this blog. Thank you to any and all followers of my story time blog.

Happy reading and happy Mother's Day!!

Anchors Away!

Have you ever seen a boat parade? In the picture above the children parade around the library basement with bells in hand pretending to be boats on parade. Today's story time was all about boats, reminding us again that Spring has sprung and Summer is on the way... time to take to the water! If you are looking for a boat book selection, you might try: "Busy Boats" by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker, "Sail Away, Little Boat" by Janet Buell, and "Little Bear's Little Boat" by Eve Bunting.

For today's craft the children glued blue paper water, cotton ball clouds, and printed out boats to sky blue construction paper. They personalized their creations with crayons and fish stickers. Although the children are all given the same materials to do their crafts, it is really fun to see how the pictures end up being so unique!

Rain, Rain... Let's Go Play!

Unlike the dreary rain of Winter, this Spring rain we have been getting is invigorating and holds promises of a lush green summer! Today's story time, which was all about the rain, made a big SPLASH with the children, who also seem to be feeling some Spring-time excitement. If you're stuck inside with your little one on this rainy day, try reading the story time books selected by Mrs. Brewer: "Who Likes the Rain" by Etta Kaner, "The Rainy Day Puddle" by Ei Nakabayashi, and "Little Cloud" by Eric Carle.

For the art project today the children glued frogs, turtles and even an alligator onto a blue piece of construction paper with three puddles drawn on it. They used crayons to add rain drops, clouds, and anything else they could imagine.
If you venture out into the Spring rain remember that little feet love jumping in big puddles!

Easter Egg-citement!

Today's story time was all about Easter. The children heard, "Happy Easter Little Critter" by Mercer Mayer, "Easter Surprises" by Lola Schaefer, and "The Night Before Easter" by Natasha Wing. The picture above shows Mrs.Brewer leading the children in singing "Little Bunny Foo-Foo."

The craft was extra special today. The children started by coloring the pre-printed and cut Easter rabbits, baskets, and eggs, then they folded back the tabs on the sides of the basket. Gluing the tabs to the paper made a 3-D Easter basket pocket. They stuffed their baskets with Easter grass and the paper eggs.

Although there is no story time next week (April 14), there are several events planned in Ledyard. On Tuesday April 14 at 10am in the Ledyard Center School gym Zach Ivins will be putting on a magic show, and on Wednesday April 15 at 1pm in the same place Sparky's Puppets is presenting Aesop's Fabels. Have a great week and a happy Easter!

April Fools-R-Us

Story time today was full of jokes and laughter. The children heard three stories: "April Fool!" by Harriet Ziefert, "April Foolishness" by Teresa Bateman, and "Knock Knock Who's There" by Freymann, Depaola, Yaccarino, Reynolds, Blackau, Heo, Kulikov, Helquist, Cole, Schachner, Raschka, Keller, Small, and Muth. The children had fun hearing about the practical jokes in the stories and Mrs. Brewer had fun with some jokes of her own... skipping over pages, holding the books upside down, sitting on the opposite side of the room. The children seemed entertained by the shananagans and may have even picked up some ideas of their own to use tomorrow... parents beware!
When the children sat down at the craft table they were surprised to see merely a small black piece of paper. Yet another joke! After Mrs. Brewer handed out the wooden sticks, the children had fun "writing" on the black paper with their sticks to reveal rainbow colors.

Spring in the air!

The children gathered like little chicks around Mrs. Brewer today as she read stories about Spring. The books-- "Colorful Spring" by Erin Moran and Danny Pickett, "Springtime on the Farm" by Kristine Lombardi, and "Pooh's Favorite Things About Spring" by Kathleen W. Zoehfeld-- all remind us of the joy of flowers budding, the hope of a new season, and the freshness of a warm day filled with brilliant new colors.

For the craft today the children glued green stems and leaves on some blue construction paper and topped the stems with some vibrant tulip and crocus flowers. They used crayons to add grass, clouds, and some allways important sunshine!

If you have not already, please check out the "useful links" on the left side of my blog. I started a webpage (my first webpage ever) to compile some of my son's favorite books and some crafts we have enjoyed doing. I am also adding a link to kidsclick.org. My son loves the animal pages. You can even watch live video from an African watering hole. Watching this is my son's new favorite thing to do. So far we have only spotted some deer and various birds, but hope is still alive that we will spot an elephant! dailynoggin.com is another great site to keep young minds entertained and actively learning computer skills. It is a site based on the Nickelodian network's Noggin, a channel targeted at educational programming for pre-schoolers. The site offers games, art activities, including print outs, and stories. If you have any additional ideas for crafts or other books of interest I would love to hear your suggestions! Happy Spring!

Leprechauns, Shamrocks, and the Irish Jig

Today's story time couldn't have been about anything other than Saint Patrick's Day! Besides reading two great books, the children also danced a little Irish Jig. The books of the day were "St. Patrick's Day" by Gail Gibbons and "Hooray for St. Patrick's Day," an interactive flap-lifting book, by Joan Holub.  The children had fun taking turns lifting the flaps to find the leprechauns. Another book recommended by Mrs.Brewer is called "That's What Leprechauns Do" by Eve Bunting. Whatever you read, have a happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Today's craft involved gluing pre-cut shamrock leaves and stems onto a piece of paper, adding green crayon accents and some exciting green glitter!